Vietnam will probably overtake India and the US to regain position as world's second-biggest exporter of rice this year, the United Nations said. Vietnamese rice exports will probably reach 4 million metric tons in 2003, up from 3.2 million tons last year, the Food and Agriculture Organization said. The UN body cut its estimate for Indian exports this year to 3.8 million tons, while it forecast US exports at 3.7 million tons.
India's rice exports last year tripled, as it undercut the competition by more than $30 a ton. This year, India has pushed up rice export prices and the Food Corporation of India has suspended allocations to exporters because of low inventories and a backlog in grain deliveries, it said.

"The major development in rice trade this year is an expected 42 per cent drop in sales from India," the agriculture organization said in its latest Rice Market Monitor. "The reduced competition from India is anticipated to underpin the performance of the other traditional rice exporters."

The US Agriculture Department's forecast is for both Vietnam and India to export 4 million tons this year, which would tie the two in second, after Thailand's 7.75 million tons. The export figure would be the highest from Vietnam since 1999, according to US government records.

As of last month, the export price of 25 per cent broken-grain Vietnamese rice was $165 a ton, against Indian price of $175 a ton, according to the FAO.